RFC Interview: Nouvelle Vague

Among the numerous great shows that seemed to have landed on this random Wednesday, French-loungesters Nouvelle Vague return to Chicago to play Metro in support of their latest album of bossa-new wave covers, Bande a Part. I recently corresponded with the band's mastermind Marc Collins for a feature last week in Newcity, here's the raw Q+A from the session: I was really surprised to hear about the new record and now another North American tour, because, well...Nouvelle Vague was supposed to be a one-time project. What was the turning point that made you realize this could blossom into something more than just one album? The success! More seriously, it was the fact that we realised that a lot of people really loved the project...for the sound, the voices, the style, etc. Nouvelle Vague became like a real artist who has toured and its a good way for me to put very personal ideas of production and arrangements into a well known project. Stepping back a bit...what exactly was it that lead to the creation of the Nouvelle Vague project in the first place? I wanted to prove that post-punk bands, even if they only knew 2 chords, have written beautiful and classic songs which can be arranged in different directions Tell us about the new record...you've expanded your cover reperetoire a bit? But unfortunately you've lost Camille Dalmais who's now become a solo star in France? I don’t think I've expanded the repertoire, it’s still what was “new wave” for me in '82 when i was 14. We recorded 3 songs with Camille for this new album but unfortunately we could’nt find an agreement with her label... I've heard great things about your live show...what can we expect this time around? Any great memories from the first tour? To have played all over the world...Bangkok, Los Angeles, Rio, Moscow, etc. We really enjoyed the american shows last year, this time we bring more songs and more musicians...there will be visuals too. What's your favorite Nouvelle Vague cover so far? Difficult to say..."In a Manner of Speaking," because of Camille’s interpretation [and] "Let Me Go" and "Friday Night Saturday Morning" because of the melancholy in them.